East meets West for Lake Oswego animal acupuncturist

Dr. Kelly Jenkins Nielsen’s unique practice fills a special niche for animal owners seeking a non-traditional way of helping their critters

By Linda Hundhammer

The Lake Oswego Review, Feb 7, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

Dr. Kelly Jenkins Nielsen — with her companion Rudy — is the only board-certified animal acupuncturist in Oregon. She relies on 20 years of experience as a Western medicine vet to help diagnose and treat her patients with Eastern practices.

Linda Hundhammer / Lake Oswego Review

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Mind blowing.

That is how practice manager Patty Pickern describes the results of her boss, veterinary acupuncturist, Dr. Kelly Jenkins Nielsen.

“I have worked with animals my whole life,” said Pickern. “I have never seen healing like this.”

Nielsen’s unique practice, The Kindred Spirits Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Clinic, in Lake Grove has had its share of what some pet owners feel are miracles.

Lilly, a 12-year-old standard poodle, has suffered from Addison’s disease, an insuffiency of the adrenal glands, since she was nine months old. She recently was in a car accident, which has furthered her physical complications. Her owner, Sandra Adams, of Southeast Portland, brings Lilly to the Kindred Spirits Clinic for acupuncture treatments and herbal remedies.

“We call Lilly the miracle dog,” said Adams. The Addison’s wreaks havoc with almost every organ and tissue in Lilly’s body, and often she stops eating. The acupuncture needles in her back directly correlate to the organs, stomach, kidneys and spleen. The needles in her legs and belly help with digestion.

“Lilly gets so relaxed, she goes to what we call ‘acculand,’” said Adams.

What makes Neilsen’s Eastern practice so unique is her background of 20 years in Western veterinarian medicine. With a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Oregon State Veterinary School, she started her own business Housecalls for Pets in Lake Oswego in 1993. Twenty years later with a thriving practice, Nielsen felt the calling to further her ability to help her patients.

“I had a lot of home euthanasia patients,” said Nielsen. “I just knew there was something more I could do for these animals.”

She began her studies of Eastern practices in 2001, completing a 100-hour course that is common amongst animal acupuncturists. She followed that with classes in herbs and veterinary chiropractic training.

Finally, in 2003, she decided to put her career on hold to go back to school full time at one of the country’s top schools in Eastern practices, the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine.

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